An off-duty Dallas firefighter was arrested last week after his ex-girlfriend accused him of punching her multiple times, Farmers Branch police said.

Sebastian Serrano, 31, turned himself in to Farmers Branch police Friday night on a class A misdemeanor charge of family violence assault. He is now free on $2,500 bond, police said.

Serrano and his ex-girlfriend were having an argument May 26 in a car in the 13600 block of Midway Road, according to police documents. At a red light, Serrano got out and the ex-girlfriend drove away.

He called her shortly after and asked her to come back and get him, police said. When she drove back to him, he punched the rear passenger window out, she told police. Then, he got in the car and punched her in the face and arms while she was driving, according to the documents.

She told police she drove him to his apartment, and he offered to let her clean herself up, but she told him she had to go.

Police said the woman got text messages and Facebook messages from Serrano offering to pay for the damage to the car.

An officer took pictures of the woman’s injuries, which included bruises on her face and her right arm.

The woman went to police two days after the incident, saying she waited because she was afraid of Serrano. When police called Serrano, he “exercised his right to remain silent,” according to the documents.

Serrano was arrested last year on an assault charge stemming from an unrelated incident in downtown Dallas, but the district attorney’s office didn’t file a case. Court records also show he also had a 2003 misdemeanor assault charge dismissed.

Serrano joined the department in 2009. He could not be reached for comment Monday.

Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans said the department has launched an administrative investigation, but his job status has not been affected.

But Jose Vasquez said that most of the valuable gear is still missing.

Original post: Some members of the New York Police Department woke up this morning in Dallas thinking they might end the day as baseball tournament champions.

Instead, they’ll leave town Saturday as crime victims.

Hundreds of dollars in baseball equipment — uniforms, gloves, bags, bats, cleats and more — were stolen out of the team of officers’ rented minivan in the Marriott Suites parking lot in the 2400 block of the N. Stemmons Freeway, said Jose Vasquez, the team’s manager and a retired NYPD officer.

The team discovered the burglary when they were about to leave the hotel to go to a 10 a.m. tournament championship game against a squad mostly made up of Dallas firefighters at LaGrave Field in Fort Worth. Vasquez said the Marriott apparently did not have video of the burglary.

The game was postponed.

Vasquez said his players gave a report to Dallas police and are scouring the city’s pawnshops looking for their stuff. Vasquez said his guys always like coming to Dallas, but the incident was disappointing for them, especially since the property loss is personal.

The NYPD does not fund the team, which travels with 18 players.

“All my guys who came down for this event came down with their own money and their own vacation time from work,” Vasquez said. “Everything that we do, we do it out of the good of our heart because of the love of baseball and the love of helping other law enforcement and fire departments out.”

The tournament also featured Charlotte police, Arlington police, another team of Dallas-area firefighters.

Dallas firefighter Scott Mills said his team was excited to play baseball today and was sorry about what happened.

“We don’t always get all our guys there, and NYPD is one of our more formidable foes,” Mills said. “We had all our guys there. We already beat them once this week and we were going to try to do it again.”

Investigators are looking into eight arson fires in Northwest Dallas in three hours, Dallas Fire-Rescue said.

The investigation is ongoing and there were no reported injuries, said Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans. All of the fires were located at or near apartment complexes.

There were four dumpster fires at apartment complexes between 10:40 p.m. and midnight at Norwalk Avenue and Timberline Drive, the 3500 block of Webb Chapel Extension, and two others at the 3300 block of Webb Chapel Extension, Evans said.

Two grass fires were also reported shortly before midnight on the 3300 block of Lombardy Lane and the 3300 block of Webb Chapel Extension

There were two structure fires, one at the 3100 block of Oradell Lane and another at the 3100 block of Webb Chapel Extension, both around 1:30 a.m.

Fountain Place (foregound) in downtown Dallas, as seen from Museum Tower on October 23, 2012. In background left is the Bank of America tower. In background right is Reunion Tower. (Kye R. Lee/The Dallas Morning News)

Update at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday: The event featured 1,317 climbers and raised $200,000 and counting, according to a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society official.

Original post: This weekend, groups of Dallas police officers and firefighters will one small step for man, and 1,039 more steps to raise money for a blood cancer foundation.

One hundred officers — including Chief David Brown — and between 15 and 20 firefighters will join more than 1,000 other climbers to compete in the 8 a.m. Big D Climb at Fountain Place this weekend to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Brown and the other climbers — they’ll have staggered starts — will walk up 52 flights of stairs in the downtown skyscraper for the sixth annual event, according to a police department news release. A police spokeswoman said this is Brown’s first year at the event and the first year the department has been actively involved in planning.

Deputy Chief Scott Walton will lead one of the department’s eight teams. Walton’s squad has dedicated its climb to Senior Cpl. Curtis Steger’s son, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Dallas police Senior Cpl. Curtis Steger and K-9 Orry.

Last-minute entrants can register for the climb between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. at Fountain Place. The registration fee will be $60. Fountain Place is located at 1445 Ross Avenue.

Entrants were also encouraged to raise money among friends and family in addition to the registration fee. Anyone can also donate by sponsoring a participant online.

The Big D Climb has raised more than $600,000 for the foundation during the first five years, according to the news release.

The police department has released the video posted above in anticipation for the climb.

Updated post, 3:51 p.m.: The Dallas police homicide unit is now investigating this incident because there are “suspicious circumstances” surrounding’s the man’s disappearance. The man has not been identified.

Police questioned an “associate” who told police that he had just met the missing man and did not know his identity. Witnesses told police that they heard loud talking coming from the direction of the associate and the missing man. Later, witnesses told police that they saw the man who went amiss struggling to stay afloat in the water.

One witness attempted to save him, but he went under and never resurfaced.

Police officials said the dive team will look for the man’s body in the morning. For now, the death will be listed as “unexplained.”

Original post, 1:19 p.m.:Rescue workers were searching for a man who fell into a creek in South Dallas Monday afternoon, officials said.

Authorities were concentrating their search of White Rock Creek in the area around Dixon Avenue and Scyene Road.

Dallas Fire-Rescue boat was in the water looking for the man. A Dallas police helicopter searched from above.

NBC 5 reported that two men were on the bank of the creek when one of them fell in. The other man tried unsuccessfully to rescue him.

The TV station also reported that DFR’s efforts were being hampered by water moccasins. Authorities had shut down Scyene Road near Dixon Avenue as rescuers searched from a bridge spanning the creek, the station said.

King showed up in a Dallas firefighter’s uniform Saturday, said Plano Fire Department spokeswoman Capt. Peggy Harrell. She said he asked to ride along with the firefighters from his own city. The firefighters became suspicious when the man couldn’t produce ID.

“Our guys are pretty savvy and figured it out pretty quickly,” Harrell said.

Harrell said the man ate breakfast with the firefighters Saturday morning. They called the Dallas fire station where the man claimed he worked. The name the man gave matched a Dallas firefighter there — but his skin color didn’t.

Firefighters took the man to Texas Health Presbyterian of Plano, where he said someone would pick him up. The firefighters contacted police, and King was arrested.

Harrell said fire officials often receive requests to ride along, but don’t allow citizens to do so.